The invention relates to a safety harness for use in industrial and recreational environments, and in particular to a safety harness that absorbs a shock when a person wearing the harness falls from an elevated structure.
Many industries require the use of a harness when the worker is employed on an elevated structure, such as scaffolding, oil rig, pipelines, construction sites and the like. The harness is connected to a lanyard, one end of which is fastened to the harness and the other end to a stable structure, such as a scaffold. Each harness must meet set requirements designed for protecting the workers in case of a fall. For example, one of the requirements is that the harness meets ANSI Z 3:59 standard, which is a 6 foot drop with 220 pounds, not to exceed 1,800 pounds of force, taking into account the force and speed of the fall from an elevated position.
Conventional harnesses include at least a belt which encircles the torso of the user and shoulder straps that cross in the back, wherein a D-ring or other similar lanyard attachment member is positioned. The harness straps are conventionally made of nylon webbing or leather; these straps do not stretch and have negligible resiliency. Conventional lanyards are made of cords or ropes; they are also non-resilient, providing little shock-absorbing qualities to the harness.
When a user falls and the lanyard reaches its outermost extension, the speed of decent is sharply interrupted. The shock of the abrupt interruption applies a considerable pressure on the bone structure and internal organs of the user. Another disadvantage attributable to conventional harnesses is positioning of the lanyard in the back of the harness, usually close to the waistline of the user""s back. When the user falls, he usually descends with his face down; dangling in the harness, suspended by the lanyard in a position that imposes considerable pressure on the user""s abdomen.
In other cases, the user""s fall is interrupted by the maximum extension of the lanyard and the user assumes a generally horizontal position. This almost horizontal position is also dangerous because the user may accidentally hit the adjoining structure, such as the wall of the building or the scaffolding, causing injury to the head or the limbs.
The industry has attempted to solve this problem by providing improvements to industrial harnesses, one of which is disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 5,487,444 issued on Jan. 30, 1996. In that patent, the safety harness includes a resilient, elastomeric cord assembly connected to the backside of the harness and the end portion of the harness. The two portions of the cord assembly connect to a safety fail-safe lanyard. The cord and the lanyard create a three-point support system to absorb the shock of the fall and help retain the person in an upright position. The fail-safe lanyard acts as a back up in case of a failure of the elastomeric cord assembly. The lanyard and the fail-safe lanyard are made from a non-stretchable material.
While the safety harness in accordance with the ""444 patent is an improvement over prior safety harnesses, there is still room for improvement, particularly in the area of shock-absorption. The present invention contemplates provision of a safety harness with enhanced shock-absorbing capabilities.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a safety harness that is suitable for use in industrial and recreational environments.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shock absorbing safety harness that is constructed as one unit.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a shock absorbing safety harness that is lightweight, comfortable to use, while being strong and reliable.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a safety harness with improved shock-absorbing properties that lessens shock load and shortens the distance of the fall keeping the individual from injury.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved through a provision of a safety harness that comprises a body harness assembly and a shock-absorbing suspender lanyard with pre-determined limited extension capabilities. The suspender lanyard is fixedly attached to the body harness. The shoulder straps of the body harness are provided with shock-absorbing capabilities, similar to the suspender assembly, allowing a limited extension of the shoulder straps in case of an accidental fall. The shoulder straps are attached to a breast strap or extend below the breast strap to a pair of leg, or thigh straps. An optional waist belt is provided.
The shoulder straps pass through a floating O-ring, to which the lanyard is fixedly secured allowing vertical position when falling. A D-ring positioned below the O-ring serves as a mutual fixing point for the shoulder straps and the end of the lanyard. A back-up lanyard is secured between the O-ring and the D-ring.